“It’s alleged that over 2,000 guns were trafficked in this investigation. To put that in context, upon information and belief, the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment has approximately 2,500 rangers. That means that as a result of this investigation, the Sinaloa cartel may have received almost as many guns that are needed to arm the entire regiment. Out of these 2,000 weapons, 34 were .50-caliber sniper rifles. That is approximately the number of sniper riles a Marine infantry regiment takes into battle.”

Below is a picture of one of my wife's sisters, Hue, in the plane crying.

"It left behind many South Vietnamese (250 to 400, depending upon which source is consulted) who had been promised escape. They were simply abandoned. It was the last of a long series of US betrayals in Vietnam. "

(A South Korean CIA officer , who had patiently waited in line, was among the Vietnamese. Nothing was ever heard from him, and I often think about his possible end. I hope he wasn't taken alive. Criminal. BT)

The man who stood in General Headquarters in Saigon, at the end and stated defiantly that he would fight to the death.......BT

======================================================

It was an about-face that outraged a generation displaced by war.

Nguyen Cao Ky, the former South Vietnam leader known for ruthlessly defending democracy, was suddenly, at 73, rubbing shoulders with communist officials — something that seemed unthinkable to those who had fled the country during the painful days after the Vietnam War.

Vietnamese Americans who had rallied around him felt betrayed, and Ky's once-revered stature in the small Orange County community the refugees had adopted was sullied.

Nearly seven years later, sentiments toward Ky among the fiercely anti-communist residents of Little Saigon haven't diminished. But his death Saturday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, may have marked a changing of the tide.

"From a political standpoint, he represented parts of the Vietnam War at its height. With his passing, that era goes with him as well," said Van Tran, who fled Vietnam as a child and later became the first Vietnamese American to serve in the California legislature.

"Many leaders of the South Vietnamese government have passed on, and it's basically the wheel of time turning — that page of history is turning to another generation."

Among others, though, the wounds of war are still raw and Ky continues to be seen as a traitor.

"The overwhelming thought in the community was he was a traitor and most Vietnamese did not trust him," said political activist Ky Ngo, 58, who lives in Garden Grove. "Anyone can go back to the homeland, that's fine, but when you go and openly support the communist movement and criticize the former South Vietnam's government, you lose respect."

Ngo said he was sorry to hear about Ky's passing but said it meant little to a community that has denied him for so long.

I bought the free 3G +Wi-Fi global. It is $189, but if you allow ads across the bottom it's$139 which is what I bought. Not bothersome at all to me. One million free books available on-line. When you hit the button on Amazon, the book appears on your Kindle almost immediately.

==========================

From a letter on Survival

Here is a list of the free Kindle books that I’ve downloaded thus far:

The Adventurous Boys Handbook by Stephen Brennan and Finn Brennan Agriculture for Beginners Revised Edition by Charles William Burkett and Frank Lincoln Stevens and Daniel Harvey Hill Aids to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology by W.G. Aitchison Robertson Amateur Gardencraft by Eben E. Rexford Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter I. Pyle and George M. Gould The Art of Confectionary by Edward Lambert The Art of Making Whiskey by Anthony Boucherie Assimilative Memory or How to Attend and Never Forget by Prof. A. Loisette Broad-Sword and Single Stick by R.G. Allanson-Winn and C. Phillipps-Wolley Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making by W. Hamilton Gibson Canned Fruit, Preserves, and Jellies: Household Methods of Preparation by Maria Parloa Carpentry for Boys by J.S. Zerbe, M.E. Cobb's Anatomy by Irvin S. Cobb The Complete Book of Cheese by Bob Brown Crops and Methods of Soil Improvement by Alva Agee Culinary Herbs Their Cultivation, Harvesting, Curing, and Uses by M.G. Kains Deadfalls and Snares by A.R. Harding Elements of Military Art and Science by H. Wager Halleck, A.M. Emergency Childbirth Course by U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Every Step in Canning the Cold-Pack Method by Grace Viall Gray Everyday Foods in War Time by Mary Swartz Rose The Field and Garden Vegetable of America by Fearing Burr The First Book of Farming by Charles L. Goodrich Food for The Traveler by Dora Roper Foods That Will Win the War and How to Cook Them by C. Houston Goudiss Gardening Without Irrigation by Steven Solomon Gas and Oil Engines Simply Explained by Walter C. Runciman Ginseng and Other Medicinal Plants by A.R. Harding Good Things to Eat as Suggested by Rufus Estes A Handbook of Health by Woods Hutchison The Handbook of Soap Manufacture by W.H. Simmon and H.A. Appleton Handwork in Wood by Willaim Noyes The Holy Bible English Standard Version Home Medical Library (series) by K. Winslow (some volumes of this series are sold for $1 to $3 each) Home Vegetable Gardening by F.F. Rockwell How and When to Be Your Own Doctor by Steve Solomon and Isabel Moser How it Works Dealing in Simple Language with Steam, Electricity, etc. by Archibald Williams How to Camp Out by John M. Gould How to Sew: Sew Basics by Various Authors In Time of Emergency by U.S. Office of Civil Defense In-door Gardening for Every Week in the Year by William Keane Knots, Splices, and Rope Work by A. Hyatt Verill Living Off the Grid by Dave Black Logic Deductive and Inductive by Carveth Read Making a Fireplace by Henry H. Saylor Manual of Surgery (Vol. 1 and 2) by Various Authors A Manual of the Operations of Surgery by Joseph Bell Mission Furniture How To Make It (Part 1,2,3) by H.H. Windsor Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking by Unknown The Power of Concentration by Theron Q. Dumont The Practical Distiller by Samuel McHarry Practical Mechanics for Boys by James Slough zerbe A Practical Physiology by Albert F. Blaizdell Preventable Diseases by Woods Hutchinson A Queen’s Delight, the Art of Preserving, Conserving and Candying by W.M. Shelters, Shacks and Shanties by D.C. Beard Simple Sabotage a Field Manual by The Office of Strategic Services Small Gardens and How to Make the Most of Them by Violet Purton Biddle Small Wars Manual by U.S. Marine Corps Sound Military Decision by U.S. Naval War College Surgical Anatomy by Joseph MacLise Survival Tactics by Al Sevcik and Irving Novick Textiles and Clothing by Kate Heintz Watson Things Mother Used to Make by Lidia Maria Gurney U.S. Army Hand to Hand Combat Manual by Department of the Army The Untroubled Mind by Herbert J. Hall Vegetable Dyes by Ethel M. Mairet Wild Flowers Worth Knowing by Neltje Blanchan Women's Institute Library of Cookery (series) Woodcraft by George Washington Sears

Political wrangling over a plan to reduce the deficit may cost the U.S. its AAA rating, adding $100 billion a year to government costs while dragging down economic growth, according to Wall Street bond dealers.

A U.S. credit-rating cut would likely raise the nation’s borrowing costs by increasing Treasury yields by 60 to 70 basis points over the “medium term,” JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Terry Belton said today on a conference call hosted by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

But that's just the start, you see.

Right now rates are at historic lows. So let's presume that the economy "improves"; if that happens then rates go up. In fact, there was a hearing this afternoon in the House Banking Subcommittee talking about exactly that.

Here's the current Treasury MTS; it shows total interest on the public debt last year was $355 billion, and this year thus far is $386 billion. This implies (on a grossed-up 9/12ths basis) that the blended interest rate on the debt is running about 3%.

Here's the problem, in short: Rates have nowhere to go but up.

So is 70 basis points "realistic"? No. If the economy improves, they'll go up double that or more just on their own on the short end. Then you get to add this "penalty" from the downgrade.

We have the government claiming they will "cut" about $1 trillion in real spending (the rest is gimmicks - the wind-down of the wars that were going to happen anyway) over the next ten years.

But if the economy improves the increased cost of the interest on the existing debt will be double that over the same ten years, and if we get downgraded you can double that again!

Each 100 basis points on $15 trillion in debt is $150 billion a year - every year - and the CBO says we'll have $25 trillion in debt by 2020.

At a 4% blended interest rate this load on that $25 trillion will come to $1 trillion in interest annually - just 1 percent higher in interest than we're paying now!

We will not get to 2020 folks; this is, in fact, exactly how the death spiral happens.

An exchange between House Committee on Oversight and Reform Committee members and William Newell, former Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive’s Phoenix Field Division during this morning’s hearings on Operation Fast and Furious pointed to key information that may be the most important to come out of today’s session.

Newell was asked about his relationship with Kevin O’Reilly, Director of North American Affairs of the National Security Council, and this was followed up shortly thereafter with his being questioned why he began one email correspondence with the words “You didn’t get these from me.” [UPDATE: A copy of this email is presented here.] Newell, who was chastised by multiple Committee members for being evasive, answered that he and O’Reilly were long-time friends, but he would admit no wrong-doing in why he wanted O’Reilly to keep his name secret as a source for disclosure about an investigation that allowed guns to “walk” to cartel criminals in Mexico.

The question becomes: Why is Newell’s communication with O’Reilly significant?

Rephrased: Why are ATF field office management communications about Fast and Furious with NSC’s North American Affairs Director significant?

"[Congressional investigators are] gradually building a case for a much wider, national conspiracy. By the end of this process, they'll be able to prove that orders came from the very top," Mike Vanderboegh of the Sipsey Street Irregulars blog told WorldNetDaily in a story filed yesterday.

The President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of State are considered to be statutory attendees of NSC meetings, but they are also regularly joined by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Director of National Intelligence, the National Security Advisor, and other executive officials. The NSC conducts its meetings in the White House Situation Room, and the National Security Advisor’s presence in the West Wing provides the President with direct access to research, briefings, and intelligence related to all aspects of national security. During times of crisis, the National Security Advisor is also responsible for operating out of the Situation Room in order to provide the President and other members of the NSC with regular updates pertaining to the situation at hand.

What’s evident from today’s exchange is Issa’s committee has some degree of access to past Newell/O’Reilly email correspondence. How much is one question. Where following up on what they have will lead—and how high up—is another, and the most important one of all.

Oh, my, this is going to get interesting, as Holder and Obama had full knowledge of this, I am sure.=======================================

At a lengthy hearing on ATF's controversial gunwalking operation today, a key ATF manager told Congress he discussed the case with a White House National Security staffer as early as September 2010. The communications were between ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office, Bill Newell, and White House National Security Director for North America Kevin O'Reilly. Newell said the two are longtime friends. The content of what Newell shared with O'Reilly is unclear and wasn't fully explored at the hearing.

It's the first time anyone has publicly stated that a White House official had any familiarity with ATF's operation Fast and Furious, which allowed thousands of weapons to fall into the hands of suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels in an attempt to gain intelligence. It's unknown as to whether O'Reilly shared information with anybody else at the White House.

Congressional investigators obtained an email from Newell to O'Reilly in September of last year in which Newell began with the words: "you didn't get this from me."

"What does that mean," one member of Congress asked Newell, " 'you didn't get this from me?' "

"Obviously he was a friend of mine," Newell replied, "and I shouldn't have been sending that to him."

Newell told Congress that O'Reilly had asked him for information.

"Why do you think he asked for that information," Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) asked Newell.

"He was asking about the impact of Project Gunrunner to brief people in preparation for a trip to Mexico... what we were doing to combat firearms trafficking and other issues."

As the Internet journalist who broke the Gunwalker Scandal on 28 December and who first drew the attention of Senator Jeff Sessions' office to the need for whistleblower protection for Phoenix ATF agents such as John Dodson, sources told me this weekend that your joint investigation possesses e-mails between ATF Phoenix SAC William Newell and Dr. Kevin O'Reilly, Director of North American Affairs, National Security Council.

Dr. O'Reilly's professional background (attached, obtained on the Internet) states he has been a Foreign Service Officer for 22 years, whose most recent responsibilities include coordinating counter-terrorism issues in Latin America for the Department of State and the National Security Council. You will note there is a gap from 1989 to 1995 in his background, before he studied at the Naval War College in 1996-97, after which he embarked on a series of short-term assignments. One of these was as a Pearson Fellow in the office of one of your colleagues, Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois.

Different sources of my own within the U.S. intelligence community who have reviewed the foregoing, consider the e-mails between Mr. Newell and Dr. O'Reilly and their professional positions and duties to be reminiscent of the back-channel communications employed by then-Col. Oliver North, empowered by what was jokingly referred to as a "Fuhrer letter" from then-National Security Adviser John Poindexter. This authorized North to operate outside established channels to implement Iran-Contra mischief. In the opinion of my sources, the highly irregular direct communication between a senior advisor on the National Security Council and a lowly ATF Special Agent in Charge reeks of executive branch misconduct. It would be, if as true as my sources say it is, "felony stupid."

Since SAC Newell will be testifying under oath before the Committee on Tuesday, there is an opportunity for Mr. Newell to explain his own understanding of the communications between himself, Dr. O'Reilly, and the National Security Council; how they relate to Fast & Furious; and thus enable the Committee and the American people to better understand the genesis of Fast & Furious and the role of the White House. This opportunity also affords the Committee the chance to appropriately define the inquiry, and to illuminate the darker recesses of the Gunwalker Scandal debacle before the inevitable speculation that will arise in the press and on the Internet as this information becomes more fully understood.

While I reside in Alabama, I am currently here in the DC area staying at the residence of my friend Larry Pratt, Executive Director of Gun Owners.of America. We plan to be on Capitol Hill to meet with certain congressional offices on Monday morning, and I am writing to you because I would like to personally discuss other aspects of the information discussed above. I would like to talk with you personally at your earliest possible convenience, and will be calling your office early on Monday morning to see if a mutually convenient meeting time can be arranged.

Sincerely,

Mike Vanderboegh

In about a half hour on that Saturday night we received the following reply:

Liberals have set themselves up for failure primarily because, as the rest of us all know, liberalism does not work. The fact that liberalism does not work stuns liberals. They disbelieve this fact because they so religiously believe in liberalism. And as liberalism fails, every piece of it falls like dominoes because liberals always align themselves into a circular firing squad.

When “moderates”, i.e. liberals who do not want to be associated with the toxic ideals of liberalism, get into the circle and start shooting things go downhill even faster. This is simply unavoidable.

For the uninitiated, a circular firing squad is an analogy for a bunch of people who have the same goal. Perhaps it is a common enemy. But in pursuit of that goal everyone is required to harm those that have the same goal as they do. Thus the hilarious concept of a bunch of people standing around in a circle, each with a gun pointed at the back of the head of the person in front of them. When the triggers are pulled everyone in the circle drops dead.

Do not believe me that liberalism is like this? Oh, then you do need to pay better attention to what is going on in the world. All liberals have a common enemy. That enemy is limited government, liberty and the United States of America as it was founded to be.

The answer is they all occurred in government facilities where the private possession of firearms was prohibited.

In Washington, unconstitutional legislation is commonplace. But sometimes unconstitutional laws can have deadly consequences. The so-called “gun free school zones act,” written by radical anti-gun Senator Heb Kohl, is one such law.

Slammed through in 1996 as an amendment to a giant last-minute must-pass appropriations bill, the legislation disarmed school staff and other adults – leaving elementary and secondary school children defenseless to serial killers.

It also made it virtually impossible to drive your car down the street with your gun inside without violating the law by creating a 1000-foot so-called “gun-free zone” around every public and private school in the country.

“Gun free,” that is, except for the criminals.

No one – including politicians, the police, or the individual citizen – can predict where the next deranged serial killer will attack. And yet politicians continue to create “criminal safe zones” such as schools, churches, parks, restaurants that serve alcohol, etc., where the law-abiding are disarmed.

The net impact of turning schools, in particular, into defenseless targets for serial killers has been dramatic.

When many people over the age of 40 were growing up, ROTC students would march up-and-down high school campuses with their semi-automatic M1’s – and no one would think anything of it. Shooting clubs on school grounds were also not uncommon.

But within a couple a years of the enactment of the Kohl amendment, two disaffected teenagers walked into Columbine High School secure in the knowledge that they would be the only ones in the school who were armed.

And, of course, Columbine triggered a slew of copycat episodes – laying a mounting string of innocent casualties at the feet of Herb Kohl and his misbegotten legislation.

It’s time to say NO to criminal safe zones. And a great place to start is the blatantly unconstitutional gun free school zones act.

Thankfully, Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) agrees and has introduced legislation to do just that.

Rep. Paul is one of the few members of Congress who respects the Constitution and who actually introduces legislation to restore federalism. And, unlike some legislators, Paul has a history of forcing the House to vote on his pro-gun proposals, thus putting other congressmen on record.

GOA is proud to stand with Rep. Paul in the effort to repeal the unconstitutional gun free zones law. For anyone who cares about liberty, now is the time to work on getting the 218 votes we need to pass this important piece of legislation.

ACTION: Contact you congressman. Urge him or her to cosponsor Ron Paul’s Citizens Protection Act of 2011, H.R. 2613.

With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said: "I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition."

At this point, I expect the main question isn't whether Obama will step aside, but rather, if a health issue or the ever-popular need to spend more time with his family will be the excuse provided. The publicity given Sanders's comments is yet another shot across Team Obama's bow.

"At some point we are going to see, I predict, in this scandal, an Alexander Butterfield moment, where someone asks the question, that is critical, takes this thing all the way to the top, and the witness does one of two things," Vanderboegh said.

"He either takes the Fifth (the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution that protects a witness against self-incrimination), which in any case points in the direction for where the evidence goes, or he tells the truth," Vanderboegh said.

"And if he tells the truth, upon that truth, the Obama administration will fall ultimately," he asserted.

Monterey Co CA SWAT team is subject of a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who was unarmed when the heavily armored team launched a flash-bang grenade into his home then watched as it burned. The man perished in the fire but wasn’t even the target of the raid. [0] http://bit.ly/n4zLtG

2 Miami Beach FL cops accused of assaulting a gay man while shouting homophobic slurs then falsely arresting a man who witnessed the incident back in 2009 were finally fired over the incident. [0] http://bit.ly/qEw5kN

Cleveland OH police officer is the subject of a lawsuit alleging he used excessive force when he mistook a teen with downs syndrome for a suspect and threw him against a car then allegedly told his parents he’s lucky he didn’t just shoot him. [3] http://bit.ly/qvcldN

Harris County TX deputy is being investigated after he was accused of needlessly shooting a neighborhood dog while riding his bike off duty then pulling a gun on a man who tried to stop him [1] http://bit.ly/nX30Z9

Dallas TX police are being sued by a stroke victim who was sober when police asked her to step out of her home then arrested her for public intoxication while refusing to listen when she explained she slurred her words because of the stroke. [3] http://bit.ly/nNE1TI

Portland ME police are being accused of lying in a report used to justifying how they shot a motorist when he refused to stop by his defense attorney who took the unusual step of creating a web page to show the public the dashcam video he says proves they lied and that the shooting wasn’t justified. [2] http://bit.ly/riHxst

Bogalusa LA cop arrested on armed robbery & dangerous use of weapon charges after police responded to a call alleging the off duty officer was firing shots in the neighborhood. [0] http://bit.ly/qYRIOa

3 Columbia SC cops caught lying on reports in a videotaped false arrest case were never investigated by city or state despite assurances by officials that investigations were underway. Which was the reason they cited for not releasing any information about the case. [5] http://bit.ly/otNXfe

“An attempt has been made in recent years to disparage the principles of States' Rights by equating it with defense of the South's position on racial integration. I have already indicated that the reach of States' Rights is much broader than that -- that it effects Northerners as well as Southerners, and concerns many matters that have nothing to do with the race question.

Still, it is quite true that the integration issue is affected by the States' Rights principle, and that most of the South's position on the issue is, today, the most conspicuous expression of the principle. So much so that the country is now in the grips of a spirited and sometimes ugly controversy over an imagined conflict between States' Rights on the one hand, and what are called "civil rights" on the other.

I say an imagined conflict because I deny that there can be a conflict between States' Rights, properly defined -- and civil rights, properly defined. If States' "Rights" are so asserted as to encroach upon individual rights that are protected by valid federal laws, then the exercise of State power is a nullity. Conversely, if individual "rights" are so asserted as to infringe upon valid State power, then the assertion of those "rights" is a nullity. The rights themselves do not clash. The conflict arises from a failure to define the two categories of rights correctly, and to assert them lawfully.

States' Rights are easy enough to define. The Tenth Amendment does it succinctly: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Civil Rights should be no harder. In fact, however - thanks to extravagant and shameless misuse by people who ought to know better - it is one of the most badly understood concepts in modern political usage. Civil Rights is frequently used synonymously with "human rights" -- or with "natural rights." As often as not, it is simply a name for describing an activity that someone deems politically or socially desirable. A sociologist writes a paper proposing to abolish some inequity, or a politician makes a speech about it -- and, behold, a new "civil right" is born! The Supreme Court has displayed the same creative powers.

A civil right is a right that is asserted and is therefore protected by some valid law. It may be asserted by the common law, or by local or federal statutes, or by the Constitution; but unless a right is incorporated in the law, it is not a civil right and is not enforceable by the instruments of the civil law. There may be some rights -- "natural," "human," or otherwise -- that give such rights the protection of the law, our recourse is to a legislature or to the amendment procedures of the Constitution. We must not look to politicians, or sociologists - or the courts - to correct the deficiency.”

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifleman in an assault platoon of Company E, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, from 19 to 21 February 1945.

Quick to press the advantage after 8 Japanese had been driven from a blockhouse on D-day, Pfc. Ruhl single-handedly attacked the group, killing 1 of the enemy with his bayonet and another by rifle fire in his determined attempt to annihilate the escaping troops. Cool and undaunted as the fury of hostile resistance steadily increased throughout the night, he voluntarily left the shelter of his tank trap early in the morning of D-day plus 1 and moved out under a tremendous volume of mortar and machinegun fire to rescue a wounded marine lying in an exposed position approximately 40 yards forward of the line. Half pulling and half carrying the wounded man, he removed him to a defiladed position, called for an assistant and a stretcher and, again running the gauntlet of hostile fire, carried the casualty to an aid station some 300 yards distant on the beach. Returning to his platoon, he continued his valiant efforts, volunteering to investigate an apparently abandoned Japanese gun emplacement 75 yards forward of the right flank during consolidation of the front lines, and subsequently occupying the position through the night to prevent the enemy from repossessing the valuable weapon.

Pushing forward in the assault against the vast network of fortifications surrounding Mt. Suribachi the following morning, he crawled with his platoon guide to the top of a Japanese bunker to bring fire to bear on enemy troops located on the far side of the bunker. Suddenly a hostile grenade landed between the 2 marines. Instantly Pfc. Ruhl called a warning to his fellow marine and dived on the deadly missile, absorbing the full impact of the shattering explosion in his own body and protecting all within range from the danger of flying fragments although he might easily have dropped from his position on the edge of the bunker to the ground below. An indomitable fighter, Pfc. Ruhl rendered heroic service toward the defeat of a ruthless enemy, and his valor, initiative and unfaltering spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of almost certain death sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

President Obama and other Democrats have called paying higher income taxes the Patriotic thing to do for wealthier Americans. We can only assume that this means paying any income tax is a Patriotic thing to do and therefore essential to the American way. Let me make a proposal to those elected leaders who believe paying taxes, and especially more taxes, is a very Patriotic thing. Let us come together in a bipartisan way and compromise.

Liberals love their taxes. Go ahead. Raise those income tax rates as high as you want on the those you consider wealthy. I will argue though that someone making $250,000 even without taxes deducted cannot afford a private jet. But I digress, facts don’t matter to you so tax away.

We can even go a few steps further and lower income taxes on all those Americans making less than $250,000 a year. I know you will do this because you want as many votes as possible. Votes in the next election drive your policies today.

But here’s my proposition. For the ability to impose income tax rates at your will, we must also pass the most patriotic of Amendments. Beyond pushing taxes as Patriotic, Liberals also (and rightly so) refer to the right to vote as the most Patriotic of all. The right to vote is a wonderful thing, but we need an Amendment to the Constitution that limits the right to vote with the ability to be so Patriotic in paying taxes. If you pay taxes you can vote. Since around 51% of Americans don’t pay an income tax our electorate will be cut in half. Why should that be a bad thing, Mr. Liberal. After all, they aren’t Patriotic.

Voter approval of the job Congress is doing has fallen to a new low - for the second month in a row.

Just six percent (6%) of Likely U.S. Voters now rate Congress' performance as good or excellent, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Last month, Congressional approval ratings fell to what was then a record low with eight percent (8%) who rated its performance good or excellent.

Sixty-one percent (61%) now think the national legislators are doing a poor job, a jump of nine points from a month ago. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Only 11% of voters believe this Congress has passed any legislation that will significantly improve life in America. That ties the lowest ever finding in nearly five years of surveys, last reached in January 2009. Sixty-nine percent (69%) think Congress has not passed any legislation of this caliber, a six-point increase from June and the most negative assessment ever. Nineteen percent (19%) are not sure.

Thanks to a quiet political start-up that is now ready to show its hand, a viable, centrist, third presidential ticket, elected by an Internet convention, is going to emerge in 2012. I know it sounds gimmicky — an Internet convention — but an impressive group of frustrated Democrats, Republicans and independents, called Americans Elect, is really serious, and they have thought out this process well. In a few days, Americans Elect will formally submit the 1.6 million signatures it has gathered to get on the presidential ballot in California as part of its unfolding national effort to get on the ballots of all 50 states for 2012.

The goal of Americans Elect is to take a presidential nominating process now monopolized by the Republican and Democratic parties, which are beholden to their special interests, and blow it wide open — guaranteeing that a credible third choice, nominated independently, will not only be on the ballot in every state but be able to take part in every presidential debate and challenge both parties from the middle with the best ideas on how deal with the debt, education and jobs.

“Our goal is to open up what has been an anticompetitive process to people in the middle who are unsatisfied with the choices of the two parties,” said Kahlil Byrd, the C.E.O. of Americans Elect, speaking from its swank offices, financed with some serious hedge-fund money, a stone’s throw from the White House.

As the group explains on its Web site, www.americanselect.org: “Americans Elect is the first-ever open nominating process. We’re using the Internet to give every single voter — Democrat, Republican or independent — the power to nominate a presidential ticket in 2012. The people will choose the issues. The people will choose the candidates. And in a secure, online convention next June, the people will make history by putting their choice on the ballot in every state.”

Here is how it will work, explains Elliot Ackerman, an Iraq war veteran with a Silver Star, who serves as the chief operating officer of Americans Elect, and whose father, Peter, a successful investor, has been a prime engine behind the group.

Violence is never the answer — unless you're faced with an attacker and no other way to escape the situation. In that case, you should kick, hit, and scratch your way to safety. Running is the best self defense move, and putting distance between you and your assailant should always be your first priority. But if you don't have the option to run immediately, here are the 10 most effective techniques to use until you have the chance to get away. Use as many as it takes to flee, and don't be afraid to cause a little damage if that's what it takes.

Wrist grab release: If you're being attacked, there's a good chance that the bad guy is going to grab you by the wrist at some point, whether it's to force you to go somewhere with him or to keep you from hitting back. To get out of this hold, remember that the weakest point of his grip is where his thumb and fingers meet. Rotate your wrist so that the thumb-side of your forearm is at the weak point in his grip, and pull your arm out of his hand in that direction. If he's much stronger than you, use your free hand to grab your fist and put more power behind your pull. Some self-defense experts suggest following up with a strike to the throat or another sensitive area as soon as you're free from his grip to keep him from grabbing you again.

Stomp kick: Because your legs are so much stronger than your arms, using a simple kick can be a fast way to get away from an attacker. To get the full force of your leg behind the kick, use the heel of your foot to make contact with the assailant. In a stomp kick, you bring your knee up and drive your heel down as hard as possible. If you do this on an attacker's foot, you might be able to break some of the many tiny bones down there and keep him from running after you. For the best results, stomp kick on his instep, or the shoelace part of his foot, rather than his toes. This can also work if you're wearing heels since the stiletto can act as a dangerous spike.

Waist grab release: Similar to the self defense taught in Miss Congeniality, the way to get out of an attack from behind is to go for the assailant's sensitive areas. If you're grabbed around the waist, stomp hard on his instep and follow it with a kick to the groin, bringing your foot up behind you between his legs so your heel makes contact with his tender bits. Then pry his hands off of you by yanking back his fingers, and finish it off with an elbow to the face. Sandra Bullock's version goes in a slightly different order: solar plexus, instep, nose, and groin, or SING for short.

Palm strike to the chin: Hitting with the heel of your palm is often more useful and less painful (for you) than throwing a punch. With a punch, you have the potential to injure your wrist or knuckles, but a palm strike allows you to pack some power into your counter-attack with less potential of hurting yourself. Strike your assailant under the chin with your palm. Put as much power behind the hit as you can, using not just your arms, but your legs and hips to provide more strength, and be sure to follow through. Spread your legs about shoulder width apart before you hit to give yourself a stable base and crouch down a bit as a sort of windup. This is a good move to use when you're pinned against a wall, even if the attacker is very close.

Front choke hold release: When someone comes at you from the front and grabs you by the neck, your first reaction will probably be to panic. But it's important to stay as calm as possible during this situation so that you'll be able to think straight and escape. Rather than clawing at his hands, which might be your natural reaction, you should take advantage of his weak areas since you have both your hands and your legs free. His throat is probably the best place to hit first, whether it's with a palm strike, a punch, or two fingers jabbed into his trachea at the base of his throat. This will probably cause him to release you, and you can follow up with another blow to the throat and a groin kick if you want.

“Like a fire bell in the night,” wrote Thomas Jefferson in 1820, “this momentous question … awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union.”

Jefferson was writing of the sudden resurgence of the slavery issue in the debate on Missouri’s entry into the Union, as foreshadowing a civil war.

And that massacre in Oslo, where a terrorist detonated a fertilizer bomb to decapitate the government and proceeded to a youth camp to kill 68 children of Norway’s ruling elite, is a fire bell in the night for Europe. For Anders Behring Breivik is no Islamic terrorist.

He was born in Norway and chose as his targets not Muslims whose presence he detests, but the Labor Party leaders who let them into the country, and their children, the future leaders of that party.

Though Breivik is being called insane, that is the wrong word.

Breivik is evil—a cold-blooded, calculating killer—though a deluded man of some intelligence, who in his 1,500-page manifesto reveals a knowledge of the history, culture and politics of Europe.

He admits to his “atrocious” but “necessary” crimes, done, he says, to bring attention to his ideas and advance his cause: a Crusader’s war between the real Europe and the “cultural Marxists” and Muslims they invited in to alter the ethnic character and swamp the culture of the Old Continent.

Specifically, Breivik wanted to kill three-time Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, the “mother of the nation,” who spoke at the camp on Utoeya Island, but departed before he arrived.

........today's hearing will continue to build the case for a wider, national scope to the Gunwalker Scandal. There also exists, according to my sources, a golden opportunity for the Committee to take this story even farther up the chain of command, to the doors of the White House itself.

Whether Darrell Issa and his boys are willing to go there or not remains to be seen. We'll find out later today.

Remembrance

To die for one’s country is not only an act of bravery, it is THE act of bravery. For soldiers, it is just an extension of their military career, a part of their duty. As leaders have asked their soldiers to sacrifice themselves for the good of the society, it is only right for leaders to go through the same motion. They should practice what they have preached.

As war is seen as a noble act, tu sat serves as redemption in case of defeat. It is also a way to tell the enemy: “You might have won the battle/war but you don’t deserve to win because you don’t have the chinh nghia (just cause).” And it is not only just cause: it is the moral belief that the cause they are fighting for deserves their total sacrifice. Continues below

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Core Creek Militia

==============================My sixth great grandfather, his wife, and five of his six children were killed in battle with the Tuscarora Indians at Core Creek, NC.

The Seven Blackbirds

==============================My third great grandfather was an Ensign in the Revolutionary War, and saved his unit's flag after being wounded at the Battle of Brandywine. He was also at Kingston (Kinston), Wilmington, Charleston, Two Sisters and Augusta. He was at the defeat at Brier Creek and also Bee Creek.

Requiem Aeternam -
Eternal Rest Grant unto Them
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My second great grandfather was killed in action on May 3, 1863 at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
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My great grandfather and great uncle knew all the men in the "Civil War Requiem" video as they were part of the 53rd NC which was the sole unit defending Fort Mahone. (Fort Mahone was named "Fort Damnation" by the Yankees) *Handpicked men of the 53rd (My great grandfather was one of these) made the final, night assault at Petersburg in an attempt to break Grant's line. This was against Fort Stedman which was a few miles to the slight northeast. They initially succeeded, but reinforcements drove them back. This video is made from photographs which were taken the day after the 53rd evacuated the lines the night before to begin the retreat to Appomattox. I have many more pictures taken by the same photographer, one of these shows a 14 year old boy and the other is the famous picture of the blond, handsome soldier with his musket.
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*General Gordon promised the men a gold medal and 30 days leave if they accomplished their task and many years after the War my great grandfather wrote General Gordon, who was then governor of Georgia about this incident. They exchanged several letters which I have framed. See first link below.
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*The Attack On Fort Stedman
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"His Colored Friends"
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Lee's Surrender
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My Black NC Kinfolks
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Punished For Being Caught!

Great Grandfather Koonce

He was a drummer boy in the WBTS, survived the War only to die a few years later. He was caught in an ice storm on his way home, but instead of seeking shelter, continued on his horse until the end. His clothes had to be cut off and he died a few days later.